Estonia should lend an ear to CE over noncitizens situation

According to a report by Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, the rights of Russian-speaking minority in Estonia are still infringed

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MOSCOW, July 5 (Itar-Tass) - Russia urges the Estonian authorities to lend an ear to the Council of Europe as concerns the deplorable situation with permanent alien residents of the country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Friday commenting on a recent report by Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks.

Under the document, the rights of Russian-speaking minority in Estonia are still infringed.

“Council of Europe commissioner’s report once again vividly confirms the validity of our repeated concerns about the discriminatory situation of national minorities in Estonia,” the diplomat marked.

According to him, many “repeated year by year recommendations of authoritarian international organizations as to the liquidation of mass non-citizenship have not been implemented as of yet”.

“Recommendations of the Council of Europe remain topical as to a need for automatic naturalization of the children of noncitizens since their birth,” Lukashevich stressed.

According to the report of the Council of Europe, as of January 1, 2013, there were over 1,200 children in the country with the status of noncitizen, while the total amount of people without the citizenship exceeded 90,000.